Warrant Officer

Are you a confident, responsible, team-oriented individual who wants to make a difference and support your community? The Bellingham Police Department is seeking a highly competent individual to serve as a Warrant Officer. Qualified candidates are safety oriented, skilled at decision making, problem solving, and conflict resolution. Warrant Officers will be required to have the ability to safely work independently and communicate effectively with a diverse group of individuals to support and assist the Police Department, Municipal Court, and the public.

Incumbents are responsible for receiving and serving court documents and for the transportation and extradition of prisoners. Serve and process court orders from Bellingham Municipal, Whatcom District and Whatcom Superior Courts, and other jurisdictions. These orders include all classes of arrest warrants, subpoenas, summons, and domestic violence papers (no contact, restraining, and protection orders) and anti-harassment orders. The Warrant Officer is also responsible for the service of other types of legal process, both civil and criminal, from the Municipal Court, City Attorney's office, and the Bellingham Police Department. Provides security services for Municipal Court.

This position will start at Step 1 ($32.91/hour). Employees receive step increases annually in accordance with the Guild of Pacific Northwest Employees, Local 1937 Collective Bargaining Agreement and City policy. The full 2023 hourly range for this position is $32.91 - $40.42. For internal candidates, placement within the range is based on City Pay Placement Procedures.

City of Bellingham employees receive medical, dental, and vision insurance as well as life insurance and long-term disability. Additional benefits include flexible spending accounts, a medical insurance opt-out program, and access to our employee assistance program. All eligible City employees are enrolled in a Washington State Department of Retirement Systems pension plan. Additionally, employees may elect to participate in the City's 457 deferred compensation retirement savings plan.

Employees will receive 12 paid holidays in addition to one paid floating holiday each year. Employees accrue 8 hours total of contract and state sick leave per month in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement and Washington State Law. At the time of hire, employees will accrue 7.33 hours of vacation per month. Vacation accruals increase based on years of service. Leave accruals are based on 1.0 FTE, accruals are pro-rated if part-time and require employee to be in paid status at least 120 hours/month.

For additional information regarding benefits and compensation Information please visit the following:

• Labor Agreements, Pay Schedules and E-Team Employee Handbook

• City of Bellingham (cob.org)

• Employment Benefits

• City of Bellingham (cob.org)

Closing Date/Time: Mon. 7/22/2023 8:30 AM Pacific Time

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS: 

• Receives court documents, arrest warrants, subpoenas, domestic violence and anti-harassment orders, jail lists, and new bookings. Prioritizes documents for research and service, assesses the level of threat for arrest service, determines the level of back up required, and cross checks inmates with papers to be served.

• Coordinates the warrant process with the Courts, Police Department, and Dispatch Center.

• Serves warrants, summons, subpoenas, anti-harassment orders, no contact orders, domestic violence orders, and restraining orders in the field. Attempts to contact persons to be served when appropriate or contacts sources to locate subject and arranges to meet to serve papers. This includes attempting and completing physical delivery or mailing document. May issue personal recognizance notices. Makes an arrest him/herself when the subject of the warrant must be taken into custody; summons on-duty patrol officers to assist when needed.

• Follows up on arrest warrants to ensure due diligence requirements are met.

• Disseminates warrant-related information to patrol officers, detectives and other law enforcement agencies.

• Conducts informational investigation on all new warrants, including in-depth investigations and reporting on flagrant violators.

• Maintains liaison with Municipal Court and the City Attorney's office.

• Timely completes and files written and computer reports, as required, including returns of services, arrest reports and all other information required for documentation of work. Submits periodic activity reports as assigned.

• Coordinates extradition and transportation of prisoners with other agencies in and out of Bellingham and, occasionally, Washington State. Collects and transports prisoners accordingly.

• Provides security for the Municipal Court and security of persons in custody who are medically not yet fit for jail. Transports persons, who have been arrested by police officers, to jail or to the station for the arresting officer to process.

• Reports on-view criminal activity. When encountered, notifies police of location of known suspects.

• May assist police officers in their work by performing logistical or auxiliary functions during in-progress events.

• Gives instruction and training to co-workers.

ADDITIONAL WORK PERFORMED: 

• Performs related duties as assigned.

WORKING ENVIRONMENT:

Work is performed both indoors and outdoors in any and all property existing in the City of Bellingham and its environment.

Physical ability to perform required duties. While the possibility of physical confrontation always exists in this position the Warrant Officer is expected to call for assistance in difficult situations.

Ability to complete other training as required.

• At least 21 years of age.

• Ability to keyboard 30 wpm net.

• Experience and/or training in law enforcement and related areas preferred. Current Law Enforcement Certificate of training (basic academy or reserve officer academy) preferred.

• Applicant finalists must be able to satisfactorily complete a thorough Bellingham Police Department background investigation, polygraph examination, criminal convictions records check and psychological examination prior to hire.

• Must possess a valid Washington State Driver's License prior to hire.  A three-year driving record abstract must be submitted prior to hire.

You are encouraged to print a copy of this job announcement for your reference as the process moves along

As part of the application, the following items are required to be submitted:

• A Cover Letter addressing the following questions:

• Why do you want to be a Warrant Officer?

• Why do you want to join the Bellingham Police Department?

• What do you know about Bellingham and why do you want to serve this community?

• Resume

Please ensure your application is complete and all required information has been provided. Standard completeness means all application fields (contact information, personal information, education, work experience, references, and required supplemental questions). Provide as much detail as you believe will fully describe your experience and training.

If you wish to claim Veterans' Preference Points, please complete the Veterans Scoring Criteria Declaration Form and upload it to your application with your DD214.

Application Review Process:

• Minimum Qualifications: Applicants must provide specific, detailed information so an initial determination can be made regarding your level of qualifications for this position. Applicant status will be updated on or around July 23, 2024.

• Experience and Training Rating: Applicants that meet minimum qualifications will go through an Experience and Training Rating. Relevancy of your experience and training, together with composition, grammar, spelling and punctuation will be considered when evaluating responses. Applicant status will be updated on or around July 31, 2024.

• The top six (6) scoring applicants from the Experience and Training Rating will be invited to participate in an Oral Board Interview, tentatively scheduled for the week of August 5, 2024.

• Applicants will be notified via email of Final Scores & Ranks. The final ranking of the register will be based on total scores for the following: Supplemental Question Review (40%) and Oral Board Interview (60%). Candidates must score a 60% or higher on the Oral Board Interview to be place on the eligibility list.

Final candidates will be referred to the department for additional examination, assessment or test.

This recruitment process will create a Civil Service eligibility register that will be used to fill any current and future vacancies as they become available. This position is represented by a union. 

Please Note: Candidates will receive updates regarding application status via email. Please be sure to check your email frequently, including your spam folders for messages filtered by your email providers.

Equal Opportunity:

Our environment is characterized by respect for cultural backgrounds, belief systems, and ethnic diversity. The City of Bellingham is an Equal Opportunity Employer and values diversity in its work force. We do not make decisions on the basis of an individual's race, religion, creed, color, national origin, sex, marital status, age (40+), disability, retaliation, sexual orientation or gender identity, honorably discharged veteran or military status, status as a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking, use of a trained dog guide or service animal by a person with a disability, or any other basis prohibited by local, state, or federal law. All are encouraged to apply for employment.